What are some good Oz related books. Not wicked, I read all those.
It really depends on what you're looking for. For Oz-related fiction (that isn't part of the canon series) I recommend:
"Shadows of the Emerald City" edited by JW Schnarr - An anthology of short stories set in Oz. The stories are usually pretty dark in tone and a few go into full-on horror territory. The stories are written by a variety of authors and vary in quality, but I think most of them are engaging and well-written.
"The Lost Tales of Oz" edited by Joe Bongiorno - Another anthology written by various authors, though this one's very different to Shadows in that all these stories are canon compliant, AKA they feel like they could have actually happened in the Oz books. All the stories are illustrated by Eric Shanower (and he also wrote "Chop", one of the stories), so I definitely recommend it if you're a fan of his work.
"Was" by Geoff Ryman - A novel which asks the question "what if Dorothy Gale was a real person?" After the death of her parents, Dorothy goes to live with her aunt and uncle, who are neglectful and abusive towards her. Another major storyline follows Jonathan, a gay and autistic actor with HIV who goes on a journey to find out about who the real Dorothy was.
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" graphic novel adaptation written and Eric Shanower with art by Skottie Young - A book-accurate comic in a really cool art style. Young and Shanower adapted the first six Oz books into comics and they're great, though sadly they never adapted the later books.
And here are a couple of Oz non-fiction books I recommend:
"The Making of the Wizard of Oz" by Aljean Harmetz - A book about the creation of the 1939 MGM film. Very informative and interesting.
"Friends of Dorothy" by Dee Michel - A look into Oz's popularity with gay men. Discusses the portrayal of gender roles in Oz, the close same-sex friendships many characters in the books have that gay people can relate to, and Oz as a form of escapism. Mostly focused on the 1939 film, but discusses the books as well.
